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I’m in the process of sifting through memories of being utterly alone and lonely when I first went to the US, working in yachting. The thought process was:

how great it is these days that you can meet somebody online and be friends with them in a foreign city, in my case via ASW

how awful those days were when I didn’t know anybody and with few options

how I’m still in touch with friends even though we live in different cities, countries

no matter what people say, social networks make the world a better place

So, there you go, I have just opened a window into the random space that is my mind. So while thinking of this, I remember how, armed with my new cross-stitching skills in 2001, I brought a template and all the tools on my first yachting job to craft my masterpiece of Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss” and in the process, stave off the loneliness of living on a boat.

Let’s just say that I didn’t go far and abandoned my attempt at needlepoint.

I read some but I was seduced by the boat’s extensive DVD selection. It wasn’t all bad, at least I discovered Serenity, in one of those movie marathons on weekends when I only had $20 left (I had to send home most of my earnings, some quirk with laws regarding overseas workers) and couldn’t really do much. Besides, to get books meant looking for books within walking distance from the marina. I would have killed for e-books online shopping and speedy internet. I think of yachties now and I hope they realize how lucky they are – with Facebook, internet access almost a right and their due, online shopping – important escapes when, after 10 days of being in close quarters with the owners on board, you’re ready to murder someone.

I’m not really that bloodthirsty but we all have our tipping points, no?